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Lihir Gold reports $US234m for 2009

Lihir Gold Ltd has reported a net loss for calendar 2009, the result of problems at its discontinued mine at Ballarat, which is now on the market.

Lihir reported on Thursday an annual loss of $US234 million, a result that was driven down by a one-off $US413 million impairment charge against the Ballarat mine.

Otherwise, Lihir reported "record" underlying profit of $US290 million, and gold production that passed one million ounces for the first time.

Lihir posted a net loss for 2009 of $US234 million, down 311 per cent from $US111 million in 2008.

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Underlying profit was $US290 million, however, up 57 per cent from $US184 million in 2008.

Revenue was $1.0874 billion, up 45 per cent on the prior year, and mine earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 63 per cent higher at $US634 million.

Lihir said it mined a record amount of gold in 2009 of 1.12 million ounces - the first time, the company said, it had mined more than a million ounces.

The company said it expected to produce between 960,000 and 1,060,000 ounces in 2010.

Lihir said its total cash costs per ounce had fallen from $US400/oz in 2008 to $US397/oz in 2009, while the average price received for gold sold rose by 12 per cent from $US850/oz to $US956/oz.

The company said it expected total cash costs per ounce to be below $US450/oz in 2010, with costs for its Lihir Island flagship mine in Papua New Guinea, and its Bonikro operation in west Africa each to be below $US420/oz.

Lihir chief executive officer Phil Baker, who took up his role last month, said the production guidance included 770,000-840,000 ozs from Lihir Island, approximately 110,000-130,000 ozs from Bonikro and 80,000-90,000 ozs from Mt Rawdon.

"Production in the second half of the year will be higher than the first half, due to planned maintenance at Lihir Island," Mr Baker said.

"As our expansion projects proceed on schedule, LGL's production capacity will rise to 1.3 million ounces by the end of next year."

Lihir said in a statement that its results included a one off after tax impairment charge of $US413 million relating to the miner's discontinued operation at Ballarat in Victoria.